zoetropes

Noun

zoetrope (plural zoetropes)

1. An optical toy, in which figures made to revolve on the inside of a cylinder, and viewed through slits in its circumference, appear like a single figure passing through a series of natural motions as if animated or mechanically moved.
   • Is consciousness really discontinuous, incessantly interrupted and recommencing (from the psychologist’s point of view)? and does it only seem continuous to itself by an illusion analogous to that of the zoetrope?1890, William James, The principles of psychology, page 200

   Synonyms:

   daedalum, thaumatrope